Touché
by timewarp1
Summary: A tiny but nasty little voice helps an Sakuragi Hanamichi fix his cluttered life by telling him things previously gone unnoticed. A boring summary, yes, but that’s basically how the story goes. Will gonna have YAOI of the RuHana variety.


Touché  
  
by Time Warp  
  
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Pairings: RuHana  
  
Summary: A tiny but nasty little voice helps an Sakuragi Hanamichi fix his cluttered life by telling him things previously gone unnoticed. A boring summary, yes, but that's basically how the story goes. Will gonna have YAOI of the RuHana variety.  
  
Warnings: People who are not comfortable with YAOI (m/m pairings) should leave now. Don't tell me I didn't warn you. I will gut you and feed you your own intestines if I receive a flame about this.  
  
Disclaimer: All of these delightful characters are mine. All MINE! Mwahahaha!  
  
Other Notes: Oh yeah, this is unbeta'ed. Pardon my grammar, English is a second language to me.  
  
To SlL: Oooh, that was so embarassing. Thank you very much for pointing it out.  
  
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Chapter 1: Whoop-dee-do  
  
Team Shohoku was training hard, getting ready for the upcoming finals. They had been perfecting their passes and shots earlier that day, and were now having a practice game between themselves. Hanamichi, Mitsui, Ryota and two other first-years were in the first team, while Akagi, Rukawa, Kogure, and two second-years were on the second.  
  
"Pass! Pass! Pass!"  
  
The sound of dribbling and rubber shoes skidding on the wooden floorboards of the gym, polished until it shone, filled Hanamichi's ears, making him excited. Adrenaline pumping, he felt his every muscle tense, every cell in his body scream at him to grab the ball and make it go through the hoop, somehow, somewhere, as it got passed or stolen from one hand to another. He does not see or hear the cheering onlookers anymore, only the ball, his teammates, and his opponents. He is in a dreamworld.  
  
Only one other activity makes the redhead feel this way -fighting. Kick, block, punch...  
  
Basketball is so different from street fighting, yet so the same. Hanamichi is a genius at both. He is able to make spontaneous moves, but can also plan and strategize. The reason why he appears more talented in the latter is because he has been doing it for eternity. Only had he been basketball-inclined earlier in life, like Rukawa or Akagi, Hanamichi would have surpassed even the greatest players of Kanagawa. And still, look, barely a year in the team and already in the starting line-up!  
  
The only problem in here is that, there are rules in court, something alien to Hanamichi. There are no things such as fouls in the anything-goes world of the streets. This fact makes Hanamichi very infuriated at most times. If his will be done, technical fouls will be allowed, and you'll even get extra points if you get to knock ugly monkeys or jiji's unconscious.  
  
In a blur, the ball is passed to Mitsui, who, expectedly, swished a clean three-point shot, making Hanamichi gape and once again be stupefied in awe (though he would never, ever admit it) by the shooting skills of the third year. Shooting the ball from a considerable distance from the ring is no easy feat; even the Tensai admits that. Micchy sure is talented.  
  
"Nice, sempai!"  
  
"Sugoi, Mitsui-san!"  
  
"Ohohohoho..."  
  
"Yeah!" Mitsui called out in response, a tint of pride evident in his face.  
  
"Good job, Micchy! Things would have been different without you! We would still win of course, because the Tensai's here, but we still appreciate your presence! Nyah-ha-ha!" Hanamichi said, or rather, bellowed at his teammate in his loud, irritating voice.  
  
"Yeah, whatever." was the response Hanamichi received.  
  
"Put a sock in it," was another.  
  
And the ultimatum, which Hanamichi has heard so many times now that people think that he's already used to it. But no, it is said with so much malice that it inflicts annoyance to Hanamichi whenever he hears it.  
  
"Do'aho."  
  
"Teme! Why you-"  
  
"Okay people, that's enough!" Shouted Ayako, taking out her fan threateningly and nodding to Akagi, asking for the captain's help. Akagi nodded back his response. "Go rest for now, team!" He said, wanting to halt whatever brawl might take place. Both know from past experiences that these little insults are beginnings of big trouble.  
  
Normally, Hanamichi would just automatically pound to dust those who dare speak against him, especially the Kitsune, despite threats of Gori's punches and Ayako's fan whacks. But today's different. Perhaps heaven had pitied the redhead, or wanted to enjoy an amusing show. So, even before Hanamichi could open his mouth to say something equally horrible to Rukawa...  
  
A little voice whispered to Hanamichi.  
  
|Why?|  
  
What?  
  
|Why do you let them do that to you?|  
  
.  
  
| Why do you let them insult you? Why do you let HIM?|  
  
Hanamichi's head whipped around, looking for the person who was speaking.  
  
|Don't bother, stupid. I'm inside your head.|  
  
"What the fuck?" He said out loud, looking around again. He realized that no one was close enough to him to be able to whisper to his ear.  
  
|I'm you, a part of your subconscious, your inner self, a brain elf, whatever you call it...|  
  
Hanamichi's mind whirled, but the voice kept on talking. |...but I don't think you will understand that now. I better explain it in more detail later.|  
  
"Hey, you guys!" He shouted to his Gundam, who was leisurely leaning on the sidelines watching the Shohoku players' practice. "I don't know what trick this is, but it ain't funny!" He was unaware that his teammates are now looking at him oddly.  
  
The Gundam looked at each other, confused, and a little bit intrigued by what was Hanamichi blathering about. "We're not playing any joke on you, buddy!" Yohei shouted back, a smile on his face.  
  
|And yeah, I forgot, only you can hear me.|  
  
"This really ain't funny, Yohei! Quit it!" Hanamichi hollered angrily. He is in Very Angry and Annoyed Mode now, flailing his arms threateningly at his friends and yelling obscenities usually reserved just for Rukawa and his rabid fangirls. But the voice kept on speaking.  
  
|I told you, only you can hear me, because I am YOU.|  
  
"Damn you assholes! Stop this stupid voice!"  
  
"What are you talking about? We're doing nothing!"  
  
"Yeah, what voice are you talking about, Hanamichi?"  
  
|Look. I'll prove it.| The voice said. Then, with all the might it could muster, the voice yelled |Haruko-chan is an ugly twiiiiit! Ryota has no chance with Ayako-san, who has eyes only for Goriii!|  
  
The sound reverberated in Hanamichi's head. It was so loud that it was as if someone shouted on a megaphone directed right next to his ear. Hanamichi's knees, and probably his brain too, were shaking.  
  
|See? The whole gym should have heard me. But no, only you did.|  
  
Sure enough, Haruko, Ryota and Ayako are still acting normally, obviously not hearing a thing. "Hnh. Ryota would have been bawling his eyes by now, if he heard that." Hanamichi thought, after finally gathering his wits.  
  
|Probably.|  
  
"Ngyah!" Hanamichi exclaimed, surprised. "You can read my mind." What in the seven hells is going on?  
  
|Well, duh. I told you I am you. So, do you believe me now?|  
  
"I -I guess so."  
  
|Think back, idiot, think back! Don't say it out loud.|  
  
"Fine!"  
  
Hanamichi is barely handling things. He is very frantic and disoriented. He wants to bash his head against something hard, let's say the concrete wall, for starters.  
  
Who in the world wouldn't, if one just start hearing voices from who knows where in the middle of a basketball game? Hanamichi's mind is being pulled from and pushed to all directions. However, the voice, which claims that he is part of Hanamichi's mind, seems to do just fine.  
  
|Wonderful! There's some hope left for our future after all!|  
  
"What exactly do you mean by that?"  
  
|Exactly what you thought I meant.|  
  
"Why you...annoying, dumbass..."  
  
***********************  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, back in the real world, everyone in the court was looking curiously at Hanamichi, who was standing ALONE in the middle of the court and by the looks of his face, was waging an internal battle against some powerful enemy.  
  
They don't know how right they are.  
  
All of them are aware that Hanamichi has a tendency to space out every once in a while. All of them accustomed to Hanamichi's animated displays of emotion. But well, there seems to be something disturbingly different with this antic...  
  
Sakuragi's Gundam were already collecting money, placing bets on what could be possibly happening to unpredictable redhead. Bets ranged from Hanamichi having a schizophrenic attack to downright weird, like...you don't want to know.  
  
"Hey airhead!" Ryota said, interrupting Hanamichi and The Voice's conversation, "Are you still with us or what? Your trips to outer space are becoming more and more frequent these days, you should get that head of yours examined!"  
  
"Shut up, Ryochin." Hanamichi retorted in a voice that is unusual of him.  
  
| Oops. I'd get out of here for a while if I were you, unless you want your friends to escort you to an asylum...wait, I am you! Quick! Go to the lockers, hurry!|  
  
"Is that the best you can do, carrot top?"  
  
"No, I can actually do much better, like pummeling you 'till you bleed to death." "Oooh, I'm scared!"  
  
"You better be." Hanamichi turned to Ayako. "I'm not feeling well. Can I go early today? Thanks. Bye."  
  
Ayako barely digested what Hanamichi said.  
  
To Be Continued. 


End file.
